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One of the most complex beers I have ever had. Truly outstanding. If I could get this in Canada I would drink this as often as possible. It is one of the best beers I have ever had the pleasure of drinking.

Bottle into Guinness pint glass in high altitude Denver, CO. No goblets were available, regrettably.

A: Pours a brilliant clear yellow-gold with a five finger head of excellent thickness and cream. Amazing retention.

Sm: Clean pleasant scent of barley, ester, spice, hops, citrus, malt, cedar, and pine, all of which are very subtle.

T: Just like the smell - delicious (&lt;insert Chappelle's show joke here&gt;). Excellent finish. The strength of this beer is its subtlety. It's complex but not overdone. Perfect for a golden ale.

Mf: Crisp and smooth, but golden ales require this smoothness. Beer Advocate's classification of this beer as a Belgian Strong Pale Ale is very wrong.

Dr: I'd definitely have it again, especially at its price and ABV. I find myself hitting the bottom of the bottle while it's upside down to make sure I get every drop. You'd never know it was 7.75%. It's pricey but worht it for celebration.

Straw-colored with two inches of fluffy foam and tons of lacing. That foam sticks around for several minutes after the first pour. Great-looking beer.
Smells sour and a little citrusy, with some light yeast/bread notes.
Taste is smoother than I was expecting, given the slightly sour smell. A little bit of banana sweetness at first balanced by a hint of spiciness on the finish.
The carbonation gives it a nice, soft feel, but it is a little bit on the thin side.
Overall, it's a beautifully balanced and well-crafted brew, even for a sweet-stout drinker like me who is not generally a fan of this style.

Batch #072.Poured into a tulip glass a hazy lemon yellow with a large blooming white head that settled slowly into a frothy mass,aromas of pithy lemon hops,alcohol,and light yeasty spice.Flavors are citric and somewhat medicinal hop flavors up front on the palate,light yeasty phenols actuall mix well with the hop profile wich makes for a well rounded palate.A great beer for the style wich I expected from RR,somewhat refreshing even with a higher ABV.

Appearance  The body of this beer belongs on an alien. Its a glowing neon orange in color and very hazy. The head was modest.

Smell  The coriander is huge at the nose. The yeast is nice and malty. The spices are all over the map. Theres some light orange and tangerine along with some peach. The hops are ultra funky. In other words, a typical RR offering.

Taste  The flavors are much smoother than the smell. There is some light alcohol that I didnt pick up in the nose, but otherwise it follows the bouquet as you drink it down.

Mouthfeel  This one lacked the good carbonation of an authentic BSPA, but that may have just been the bottle. There was some noticeable dryness to this medium-bodied ale and the flavors really melded together as it warmed.

Drinkable  This was a very drinkable BSPA that delivered on all the usual requirements.

Thanks for Kevin to bringing me a few of these on his recent West Coast trip. Dated September 2012, a few months away from it's first birthday. It pours a golden honeycomb color and is almost 100% opaque. It's got a big head, the whitest of the white with thin, fine bubbles; it's super creamy and conjures up even larger when the glass is agitated. Super solid looking for a Belgian pale.

Belgian yeast abound, wall to wall, erring towards the slightly sweet banana side of things, with lighter hints of clove and a soft underbelly full of bubblegum. It's pretty "spicy" on the nostrils, though, with some white pepper in the background and a bit of alcoholic phenol notes that show up every now and then. Some slightly tart pear enters during the outro as well - quite a nice display of Belgian yeast, especially for an American-crafted brew.

As the aroma would indicate, some slightly-rotten banana cream is abundant in the flavor from the very first sip. Each pile of banana is follow up quickly with a sharp hint of spices; coriander, clove, orange zest, white pepper; spicy overall, yet pretty mild and refined in the big picture. I'm now struggling to decide whether it's more sweet or more spicy, and perhaps that's because it's such a perfectly even split.

It's certainly a very yeasty brew, as most Belgian pales should be. The backdrop contains thick mounds of buttery bread covered in a layer of super-duper, cheesy and musty funk. The finish is very bready and cellar-y with a dry finishing funk that obliterates any sweetness that's made it this far on your palate. It's medium bodied, though it feels a bit thicker, possibly from the heavy yeast. Crispy, nearly bubbly carbonation.

The first of the "non-sour" ales that I've tried from Russian River's line of Belgian style beers, and I'm mildly impressed. There are certainly some better, authentic Belgian pales out there... Then again, I'd also choose Damnation over many other authentic Belgian pales, too. One of the best things about the brew is the somewhat low price point... 4-5$ a bottle isn't bad for this tasty brew.

This was an incredible beer. It poured a pale orangy-golden color with little head. The smell was fantastic, a variety of fruity and yeasty odors, with strong citrus tones. The taste followed through on the smell, orange and banana comes to mind, although it was hard to pull out one specific taste- everything was well-balanced. If I had to pull a phrase out of my head really quickly to describe this beer, I'd have to say "juicy wheat." I guess by that I mean that the slight fruity taste adds a more robust flavor to its wheaty yeast taste, kind of like biting into an apple and getting that juicy, tart kick. It has a smooth mouthfeel and its drinkibility lends itself more to sipping than gulping. This is one to savor or to break out for tastings.
This beer also has serious dregs- the bottom was yeast city- a plus for dregheads!

Had this one on tap at O'Briens and what an amazing beer this was. It poured a nice medium gold color with a little lace that stuck to my glass all the way down. The smell was quite spicy with a clove scent as well. The taste was wonderful. Bananna, yeast and a slight peppery flavor were quite dominant. This beer reminded me of a very strong hefeweizen. Very drinkable indeed, try it if you see it.